Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Starship Titanic

Michael Palin stars in an exclusive adaptation of Terry Jones's comic novel. A tale of interstellar skulduggery, romance and unhinged robots based in Douglas Adams's universe.

Michael Palin stars in an exclusive adaptation of Terry Jones's comic novel. A tale of interstellar skulduggery, romance and unhinged robots based in Douglas Adams's universe.

Far off in the centre of one of the less well-chartered quadrants of the universe, a vast civilisation is preparing to launch the most technologically advanced starship ever - Starship Titanic While the galaxy's media looks on, it unfortunately undergoes SMEF (Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure) and disappears. Leovinus, the designer of the ship, uncovers shoddy workmanship, poor cybernetics and a series of increasingly eccentric robots. The owners, Scraliontis and Brobostigan, were intent on destroying the ship and claiming the insurance.

Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, four humans are inspecting a property they intend buying, only to see it crushed under the re-materialising Starship. This disaster is swiftly followed by an invitation from an over-attentive robot to come aboard, and Lucy, Dan and Nettie are catapulted into a series of increasingly bizarre encounters.

Stylistically emulating the work of the great Douglas Adams in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the late Terry Jones weaves a fabulously mad and comic tale, adapted by Ian Billings and directed by Dirk Maggs, who also directed the last four editions of the Hitchhiker's sagas.

Cast: Tom Alexander, Ian Billings, Nicholas Boulton, Rupert Degas, Philip Pope, Alana Ramsey, Rebecca Yeo. With a special guest appearance by Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Music by Philip Pope.

57 minutes

Last on

Sun 19 Dec 2021 15:00

Broadcast

  • Sun 19 Dec 2021 15:00

Opening Lines

Opening Lines

John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

The Shakespeare Sessions

The Shakespeare Sessions

Immerse yourself in Shakespeare鈥檚 world